Brett Hull - Builds Popularity Of The St. Louis Blues

Hull signed a four-year, $8.3 million contract with the Blues in 1990 and immediately demonstrated his worth to the team. His eighty-six goals in the 1990-91 season fell just short of Wayne Gretzky's all-time record; Gretzky also edged Hull as that season's scoring leader. Hull, however, walked away with the Hart Trophy as the league's Most Valuable Player. Despite Hull's impressive playing, the Blues failed to make the Stanley Cup's final round.

Although the Blues never made it to the finals during his eleven seasons in St. Louis, Hull became one of the city's most popular sports figures. His colorful personality generated excitement around the team's fortunes in St. Louis, which had not previously been known as a hockey-oriented town. Injuries hampered his playing during the 1994-95 season, but Hull remained the key to the team's offense. Many were surprised when St. Louis declined to sign him again at the end of the 1997-98 season; instead, Hull joined the Dallas Stars. As in St. Louis, he quickly raised the profile of hockey in a city that had a small fan base for winter sports. He also worked to change his game to complement the more defensive style coached by the Stars' Ken Hitchcock. As Hull wrote in a column published in Sports Illustrated in 1999, "When I came to Dallas last summer as a free agent, that style of play was an adjustment for me. I had to alter my game. At first it was tough to remember to check here and check there and not worry about goals. When I was back in St. Louis, with the Blues, everyone said I was a one-dimensional guy who could score goals and do nothing else …. well, it's niceto prove everyone wrong. Really nice."